Sonya Kristine Kershaw

April 3, 1964 – May 23, 2026

Sonya Kershaw, of Manitou Springs, Colorado and formerly of Amarillo, Texas, passed away peacefully at her home on May 23 after a brief but courageous fight with melanoma. She was 62 years old.

Sonya was born on April 3, 1964, in San Diego, California to Reginald E. and Rachel (Sanchez) Armstrong. Because her father served in the United States Marine Corps, Sonya lived in Japan and attended schools in Germany, California, and Virginia. She traveled extensively in Germany and Italy, skied the Austrian Alps, and joined her father on weekend Volksmarches in the Bavarian countryside. Sonya graduated from Garfield High School in Woodbridge, Virginia, where she went to State in track and competed in equestrian events with her horse Sham at Marine Corps Base Quantico. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English at her mother’s alma mater, Mary Washington University in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where she was also a passionate competitor on the MWC equestrian team in dressage and hunter/jump. While working at Possum Point Power Station in Dumfries, Virginia, she met Terry Kershaw, was married in Sulfur, Louisiana, and later gave birth to two cherished children, Rebekah Ann and Kaleb John.

Sonya eventually moved to Amarillo, Texas, where she taught English at San Jacinto Academy and Bowie Middle School for more than 20 years. A popular teacher at Bowie, she was affectionately known as “Kersh” to colleagues and students alike, earning the well-deserved and distinguished titles of Bowie Teacher of the Year and Bowie Mentor of the Year. Sonya supplemented her teacher's salary through part-time work in catering and at Market Street where her sun-filled joy reliably greeted her co-workers and customers without exception. In her spare time, she dove into board games, puzzles, Miss Marple and other English films, and always read mysteries, sometimes two at a time. She and her children frequently camped and hiked Palo Duro Canyon and were a common sight splashing around Amarillo city pools over summer break.

After retiring from AISD, Sonya moved to Pagosa Springs, Colorado where she worked at The Springs Resort, later moving to Manitou Springs, where she was known as a “Metro Ambassador,” joyfully and expertly directing tourists toward specialty shops and local sights as well as maintaining peace and order in its parking lot. She often said Manitou was her favorite place to live because she could walk everywhere and because the Manitou locals – from multi-millionaires to mom-and-pop shopkeepers to hospitality workers with two jobs or more – lived their lives together as one large, caring family. When walking around town with Sonya, local passersby invariably greeted her by name with a hearty hello and heartfelt conversation.

Sonya was preceded in death by her mother and grandparents. Survivors include her children, Rebekah Kershaw of Manitou Springs; Kaleb (Christina) Kershaw of Severance, Colorado; grandchildren, October Kershaw, Manitou Springs, and Hudson Kershaw, Severance; her brother, James Armstrong of Bonita, California; her father, Reginald (Alice) Armstrong of Amarillo, Texas; and three nieces and two nephews.

All who knew, befriended and loved Sonya are invited and encouraged to attend.